Birdwatch & Insects, Autumn-Winter 2017

Steve Jones rounds off the year, puzzled by the absence of some birds he expected to see.

Common Scarlet Darter Dragonfly Common Scarlet Darter Dragonfly Photo: Steve Jones

As we came into Autumn there was the expected movement, with lots of finches appearing, predominantly Chaffinch, Goldfinch with a few interspersed Serin, feeding on seed heads. I am always on the lookout for Brambling amongst the Chaffinch but it seems I have to make to do with the two sightings in early January. The Serin pictured below was at the pond (which still had very little water after the hot dry summer). The picture came out better than I was expecting, even though I was looking into the sun. I think it is probably a male in winter plumage, which becomes incredibly bright in Spring time.

Serin, 18th October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

October 13th: Still seeing odd Swallows and this morning a Swift. Lots of Wagtails on the airfield, up to 50, and this week a big movement of Stonechats which I didn’t notice at all last year. I've seen 30 - 40 at various locations this week. I was very pleased with this picture of the goldfinch / gardelin - you really don't get too much closer than this. I took about 20 shots this morning, slowly edging closer, shielded by some grape vines.

Goldfinch, October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

In October, 'Nature' journal publicized a report from Denmark1 showing changes in breeding patterns as well as a decline in numbers of starlings (sturnusa vulgaris) in a long-term study. Over 45 years from 1971 to 2015, dairy farmer Peder V. Thellesen logged the habits of the birds, which had 27 nesting boxes on his property2. The changes are attributed largely to climate change, and give cause for worry. Similarly, I know of in-depth studies of curlew on Dartmoor, which have suggested that curlew in the south of England could be extinct within 7 years, unless something is done. the situation is complex, but in this case predation is apparently the biggest problem.

October 18th: I saw a Swift two days ago at Jelsa fire station. There are still lots moving, most notably Stonechats. I have also seen several Pipits, but have not been able to get anywhere near close enough for a decent picture. Sparrow Hawks have been about regularly, but again they have escaped the camera. Robins are back in large numbers, and they are the most prominent singers at the moment. Robins may well be here throughout the year, but if they are, they're certainly not obvious.

Robin, December 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

October 19th: There was a flock of 20 plus Starlings at airfield this morning. Oddly, I hadn't seen one in all the time I had been going there until January/February of this year (I even mentioned this when we did an interview for the magazine Dobra Kob at the beginning of the year). And now this is the second lot I have seen this Autumn. What a surprise!

Starlings, 19th October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

Towards the end of October I had another first for me and the island – Wood Lark, there were up to seven on the airfield for around a week.

Wood lark, October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

Blackcaps seemed to be actively feeding on the remaining figs. I did manage a glimpse of another new species, a Firecrest.

Firecrest. Photo: John Ball

Stonechats were clearly passing through for about 10 days, I saw them regularly regularly down near the pond. Up to 50 Pied Wagtails were on the airfield amongst occasional pipits and Yellow Wagtails, and I was still seeing the odd Swallow and Swifts well into October. (A Grey Wagtail was often to be seen in Stari Grad, but he has not provided me with a decent picture). It's worth noting that 'pied wagtail' used to be the general term for two groups of birds which were very similar, whereas nowadays it's more usual to differentiate between 'pied wagtails' and 'white wagtails'. In fact most of the the ones on Hvar are white wagtails.

Yellow wagtail, 14th October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

The latter part of October saw the arrival of Great Tits and Blue Tits. Sparrowhawks and Buzzards were also seen now on an almost daily basis, but both were extremely uncomfortable near the camera.

Buzzard, Dol, November 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

October 29th: I am 99% sure I had a Goldcrest the other day. I am not 100% certain, but fellow bird-watching enthusiast John Ball had a definite sighting with a fine photograph to prove it on October 13th, from the beach by the Senses resort in Vrboska, where he was staying. So Goldcrest is included in the year's list of sightings, bringing the total to just above 90 species for the year. Say I miss about 10% the true figure could be close to 100 species for the year.

Goldcrest, October 2017. Photograph: John Ball

This week saw the return of Black Redstarts (I first saw them on 2nd November last year, 2016). There were still Tawny Pipits on airfield and at last I managed a picture this week - not a brilliant one, but good enough for certain identification.

Tawny pipit. Photo: Steve Jones

 Common Darters (dragonflies ) are laying / mating at the remaining water in the pond.

Common darter dragonfly. Photo: Steve Jones

The Grey Wagtail keeps escaping the camera in Stari Grad but I have been seeing and hearing it most days now. Yesterday I saw good numbers of Clouded Yellow butterflies, but as for getting one on the camera ........... Ummmmm.

In November I started using the little bird feeding station I had created. Initially it was all very quiet, but once they got used to the food they started to come in numbers. I was inundated with Great Tits - up to 20 at one time -, also Blue Tits and Chaffinch.

Blue tit, November 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

A very occasional Dunnock appeared, also a Wren (but I have not been lucky enough to get a decent photograph of him yet). There were a few Black Redstarts around, but they didn't come to the feeders.

Great tit, November 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

In early December I was delighted with another new species on the Island - Hawfinch. I had only seen one briefly in the UK once before. I managed to see three in the following days, but not close enough for a picture, until I managed this on the 12th December.

Hawfinch, 12th December 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

December 19th. My feeding station has proved to be very successful, I could easily get rid of 1kg of bird food in a day (and at 18 kuna a kilo I am rationing it somewhat)!! It is interesting how the birds come in waves, appearing in grouops of 20 - 30, although there are mainly just three species. They feed just for a few minutes and then are gone. I suspect it is a strategy to fool the neighbouring cats, as three have taken to lying in wait at the bottom of the feeder or in a tree nearby.

I have still been hearing the Wren in the neighbourhood, but he's escaped the camera so far. I am sure I will get a picture at some stage during the winter. As we passed the shortest day you may well have noticed how the Blackbird was more prominent, starting to feed on the ivy berries. Before long they would be actively singing as the New Year begins………………. Bringing with it another list of bird species sightings!

With the end of another year upon us, it seems I have to settle for 93 species sighted in 2017, not the 100 I had been hoping for. I accept from the areas I cover I could have missed several species, but on balance, given the frequency with which I have visited “my patch” I am happy with what I have recorded. I don’t do any sea-watching – for no other reason than on the times I have tried, it has offered little, which is surprising. I am also puzzled as to why certain “common” species aren’t seen on the island, such as Magpie, Jay, Crow and Jackdaw, which I was used to seeing in large numbers in the UK. However, here there are lots of Hooded Crows, which are very apparent at the moment, so maybe they do the job of all those others. I also have not seen Long Tailed Tits or Coal Tits at all, and Blue Tits are rare, appearing only in single numbers. I am planning a couple of trips to the mainland in 2018 for some bird watching – it may just be to do with the location of the island.

© Steve Jones 2017

References:

1. Fox, A., Heldbjerg, H. 2017. Ornothology: Danish dairy farmer delivers data coup. Nature, 550, 333 (19 October 2017) doi:10.1038/550333b

2. Thellesen, P.V. 2017. Kuldstørrelse og yngletidspunkt hos Stær i Sydvestjylland, 1971-2015. Dansk Ornitol. Foren. Tidsskr. 111, 87-95.

For more of Steve's nature pictures, see his personal pages: Bird Pictures on Hvar 2017, and Butterflies of Hvar

You are here: Home Nature Watch Birdwatch & Insects, Autumn-Winter 2017

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’

    A growing number of climate groups are campaigning for the introduction of a wealth tax to ensure the transition to a sustainable economy is not done “on the backs of the poor”.

    Last week campaigners from Green New Deal Rising staged a sit-in outside the Reform UK party’s London headquarters as part of a wave of protests targeting the offices, shops and private clubs of the super-rich across the UK.

    Continue reading...

  • Ministers call for hosepipe bans as East and West Midlands enter drought, joining Yorkshire and north-west

    Four areas of England are now in drought as the East and West Midlands have joined Yorkshire and the north-west.

    Continuing hot and dry weather was a hazard to crop production and wildlife, ministers said, as they urged water companies to put hosepipe bans in place to conserve water as levels deplete.

    Continue reading...

  • Energy and net zero secretary lays out stark picture of how climate crisis and nature depletion is affecting UK

    Ed Miliband has accused the Conservatives of being “anti-science” by abandoning a political consensus on net zero as he gave MPs a stark outline of how the climate crisis and nature depletion are already affecting the UK.

    In the first of what is promised to be an annual “state of the climate” report, the energy and net zero secretary set out the findings of a Met Office-led study that detailed how the UK was already hotter and wetter, and faced a greater number of extreme weather events.

    Continue reading...

  • Class action led by two community leaders argued government had legal duty of care to prevent or deal with damage linked to global heating

    Two Torres Strait community leaders are shocked and devastated after the federal court dismissed a landmark case that argued the Australian government breached its duty of care to protect the Torres Strait Islands from climate change.

    The lead plaintiffs, Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai from the islands of Boigu and Saibai, sought orders requiring the government to take steps to prevent climate harm to their communities, including by cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the pace climate scientists say is necessary.

    Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email

    Continue reading...

  • With a bottlenose population threatened by fishing gear, boats and pollution, campaigners on South Korea’s Jeju island are lobbying to extend legal status to the vulnerable cetaceans

    It is a beautiful sunny day on the island of Jeju in South Korea and as the boat cuts through the water all seems calm and clear. Then they start to appear – one telltale fin and then another. Soon, a pod of eight or nine dolphins can be seen moving through the sea, seemingly following the path of the boat.

    But as they start to jump and dive, fins cutting through the air, it becomes apparent that one dolphin is missing the appendage, his body breaking the surface but without the telltale profile of his companions. His name, given to him by a local environmental group, is Orae, which literally translates as “long”, but in this context means “wishing him a long life”.

    Continue reading...

  • Grant offering up to 10% off will not cover cheap Chinese models, which are built using coal-fired power, or Teslas

    Buyers of the “greenest” new electric cars priced at less than £37,000 will be able to get a discount of up to 10% under a UK government scheme, a move that means Tesla fans will still face having to pay the full price.

    The Department for Transport has reintroduced a grant, previously scrapped in June 2022, to encourage more drivers to switch from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles.

    Continue reading...

  • Hogshaw, Buxton: House martins are breeding in just one specific spot here, and it’s the old town tip that tells us why

    If you came to this Derbyshire spot in winter, with all its down-at-heel problems of congested traffic, air pollution, dense housing and largely garden-free conditions, the bottom of Fairfield Road would be about the last place in Buxton you’d imagine to find breeding house martins. Yet it is about the only place in town with a good-sized colony of these exquisite if declining summer migrants, so unpicking why they have persisted here and gone almost everywhere else locally is instructive.

    One element may be the height of the terrace housing. The buildings are on three floors and the overhanging eaves, where martins locate their mud-cup nests, are beyond the reach of “tidy-minded” souls worried about droppings below. A more certain factor is that the back of Fairfield is only a house martin’s swoop away from what was once the town tip called Hogshaw. Yet in the last half-century it has been redeemed by nature and smothered in sallow and birch woodland. Those two are among our most insect-friendly tree species, and the resulting abundance of invertebrates which not only accounts for the birds’ presence here, but determines almost everything about house martins.

    Continue reading...

  • Obsession or ‘drunken stupidity’? Sentencing of guilty men leaves us no closer to knowing their motives

    “It’s one of the most asked questions that I get,” says the detective who helped bring to justice the two men who cut down the Sycamore Gap tree in the middle of a stormy September night two years ago. “As soon as anybody knows I’m involved in the investigation, the first question is: ‘Why?’”

    Why would anyone cut down a tree that brought only joy and happiness to people? Did Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers see it as a lark? Or a challenge? Was it a cry for help? A yell of anger?

    Continue reading...

  • Crucial for coastal communities, mangroves are threatened by land clearing, development and rising seas

    As the morning light hits Oibola village in Solomon Islands, the receding tide drains water through a maze of tangled mangrove roots.

    Dressed in muddy jeans and a worn T-shirt, Ben Waleilia moves carefully through the thick mangrove forest, searching for seedlings. Rows of young mangrove shoots stand high as Waleilia gently drops seedlings into a small plastic bucket.

    Continue reading...

  • Household energy bills in some Republican-leaning states could rise by more than $600 every year, analysis of the so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ finds

    The cost of electricity is poised to surge across the US in the wake of Republican legislation that takes an axe to cheap renewable energy, with people in states who voted for Donald Trump last year to be hardest hit by the increase in bills.

    As air conditioners crank up across the US during another sweltering summer amid an unfolding climate crisis, rising energy costs will become even more severe for households due to the reconciliation spending bill passed by Republicans in Congress and signed by Trump, who called it the “big, beautiful bill”, on 4 July.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds